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Adventures in lomilomi massage

by Wendy Smith

When I heard about lomilomi, the Archies singing “Honey, Honey” popped into my head and there it has remained. I know, my mind is a frightening place and I’ve scared myself on more than one occasion. Anyhow, it turns out that lomilomi has nothing to do with cartoons and is a type of Hawaiian massage devised by Tamara Mondragon in Ojai, Ca. It is characterized by long, firm strokes on the body. Lomilomi is considered one of the deeper types of massage, although it is less about kneading the tissues, as in some deep tissue massage, and more about rubbing the muscles through stroking. Since I was a Siamese cat in a previous life, the idea of a stroking type of massage piqued my interest.

There happens to be one lomilomi massage therapist in town. Her name is Bethany Cole, and she studied the technique from the woman who crafted it. Now, Hawaiians tend to be stocky, strong people thoroughly capable of delivering a strong-handed massage. Bethany probably weighs 97 pounds fully clothed and holding an overweight wet raccoon. I was kind of wondering how this was going to turn out. Bethany and I talked a bit about her travels. She practiced massage for over 10 years in Tennessee, California, Maui and Oregon and has basically learned a different type of therapy in every place she’s been. Then she left the room and I got undressed and under the covers. The covers were really warm, which the Siamese in me always enjoys.

When Bethany came back, she explained that while lomilomi is the basis of her technique, she also incorporates acupressure, Reiki, neuromuscular trigger points, reflexology, quantum touch, aromatherapy and Swedish Esalen massage into her therapy. She told me that she thinks about her clients before they come and her intuition guides her in what aromas to use. Something had told her that I needed geranium and Roman chamomile, so she mixed those essences into my massage lotion. It smelled wonderful—exactly what I needed. She asked me if I had any physical or emotional issues that I wanted her to focus on. I mentioned that my back was hurting a bit so she got a piece of jade and a piece of olivine and placed them on my back, right where it was hurting (although she never asked me where that might be).

Bethany grew up open to energy work and healing. Her Russian great uncle August was an untrained hands-on healer, so she guesses she comes by it naturally. The rocks sat on me while she did the massage and, after a while, they rolled off and she said they were done. The jade did the most work; the oelwein rolled off first.

The lomilomi was great; Bethany is extremely strong for such a small person. She uses her hands more than her fingers and covers the body in lengthy movements, kind of like being petted, only better. Occasionally she would stop the stroking and put pressure on various points on my body (acupressure). Bethany says she intuits places where the energy is void and tries to bring energy into that space. She also uses warm, fragrant towels to relax the muscles as she massages. I got very relaxed, though at the same time my basal energy level rose. I could barely move, but I felt as though I had a soft current running through my body. It was a great feeling and an easy one to drift in. In fact, I solved all the world’s problems before she told me to roll over.

After I rolled over, she gave me a head massage. I’ve always liked my hairdresser because of his shampoo technique, but Bethany has it down. She pressed on different places and pulled my neck. I felt like I was being straightened and aligned although I forgot to ask her if that was what she was doing. After more lomilomi on my body combined with acupressure and some Swedish massage, she did some reflexology on my feet. I’m not very fond of having my feet touched, especially pressed. I get an uncomfortable feeling that isn’t pain, it just feels strange. However, Bethany somehow knew that and avoided giving me that feeling. She used my feet to work on my back. Somewhere along the way, the tightness in my back relaxed and I felt as though I had let go of something huge. After the reflexology, she did a quantum touch check of my body by laying her hands on different parts of me to check the energy and then we were done.

I left feeling totally renewed and balanced. From Bethany’s space, I went to pottery class where I was sure, in my newly centered state, I would turn the best pots in the world. However, even though I was totally relaxed, my energy level was much higher and all I could do was crunch pot after pot on the wheel. My teacher finally made me do some exercises so that I could talk to the clay with my different energy level. My back felt better for several days after my massage and my energy level is still high. Bethany told me she feels like her path in life is to heal and I believe her.

Bethany Cole is a certified massage therapist and can be reached at 584-3864.

October 28, 2004 • Vol 14, No. 44 © 2004 Metro Pulse